Self-loading grenade launcher

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a self-loading grenade launcher with a cartridge belt feed which conveys a cartridge with pawls engaging in the cartridge belt of a cartridge belt. An inertia bolt runs forward along a path from a release position against the cartridge chamber under the force of springs and is fitted so as to slide the cartridge conveyed from the cartridge belt by the pawls into the cartridge chamber during this forward movement. A control system coupled to the inertia bolt and the slides converts the forward and recoil movement of the bolt into the transverse alternating movement of the slides. A firing device comprises a firing pin, tensioned by a percussion spring. A housing secured to the cartridge chamber extends along the bolt path and partially surrounds it, the longitudinal axis of which continues the central axis of the cartridge chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a self-loading grenade launcher with acartridge belt feed which conveys a cartridge by means of pawls engagingin the cartridge belt preferably horizontally to the from of a cartridgebelt, in which the pawls are borne by two counteracting slides movabletransversely to the direction of fire and arranged in a hinged cover andproject downwards. An inertia bolt runs forward along a path from arelease position against the cartridge chamber under the force of one orpreferably two return springs and is fitted so as to slide the cartridgeconveyed from the cartridge belt by the pawls into the cartridge chamberduring this forward movement and, owing to the recoil force due to thefiring of the cartridge, to run back along the path and therebyretensioning the return spring or springs. A control system coupled tothe inertia bolt and the slides converts the forward and recoil movementof the bolt into the transverse alternating movement of the slides. Afiring device comprises a firing pin which is tensioned by a percussionspring and held by a detent in the tensioned state, whereby the detentis released and the cartridge fired before the inertia bolt hascompleted its forward travel but only after the cartridge has penetratedfar enough into the cartridge into the cartridge chamber to hold the gaspressure resulting from firing. A housing secured to the cartridgechamber extends along the bolt path and partially surrounds it, thelongitudinal axis of which continues the central axis of the cartridgechamber.

2. Description of the Related Art

A prior art grenade launcher is described in the journal "InternationalDefense Review," Volume 22, No. 12/1989. It has a cartridge belt feeddevice which conveys the frontmost cartridge directly behind thecartridge chamber. An inertia bolt, which is similar in its manner ofaction to that of a machine gun, is moved by a closure-springarrangement against this frontmost cartridge, pushing it into thecartridge chamber and firing it.

In the following, expressions such as "front," "rear," "side," etc. areused without further definition. They refer in all cases to the weaponin horizontal firing position, "front" indicating the muzzle andtherefore the front end of the weapon in the firing direction.

In order to make the grenade launcher ready for firing, it is sufficientto move the inertia bolt, against the action of the closure-springarrangement, into its rearmost position, in which it is held by atrigger device, and to insert the cartridge belt into the feed device.

The particular advantage of this type of grenade launcher as comparedwith the previously best-known self-loading grenade launcher, the USMark 19, lies in this simple course of movements; in the case of the USMark 19, it is necessary, after the insertion of the belt, for the boltto be struck empty and then cocked again since the frontmost cartridgeof the belt is not fed directly into the cartridge chamber upon thefirst striking of the bolt but rather is first brought into a transferposition from which it is conveyed by the second striking of the boltinto the cartridge chamber and fired there.

This complicated loading process leads to errors in operation as aresult of which the weapon is either not ready to fire after loading orfires at the wrong time.

The prior art grenade launcher which does not have this disadvantage andis of very simple construction is, of unsatisfactory reliability inoperation and function.

The object of the present invention is to provide a self-loading grenadelauncher which, using the above-described advantages of the prior artgrenade launcher, has better reliability in operation, betterreliability in function, better operability, simpler construction and/ora less expensive construction.

The inertia bolt included in the invention like the prior art grenadelauncher, fires the cartridge which is just being introduced into thecartridge chamber during the final phase of its forward movement;utilizing the kinetic energy of the forward-moving inertia bolt is so asto counteract the commencing recoil of the fired cartridge and toprevent the cartridge case from passing prematurely out of the cartridgechamber.

The moment of firing depends on the speed with which the inertia boltmoves forward. The necessary speed is obtained only if the inertia boltreaches upon its return travel a minimum cocking position and commencesits closing movement from said position.

If, in the prior art grenade launcher, the inertia bolt does not reachthis minimum cocking position due to a disturbance (jammed cartridgecase, incomplete or late-burning propellant charge, incompletewithdrawal of the cocking lever, for instance after a cartridgemisfire), then the firing of the next cartridge takes place too soon,before it has been introduced sufficiently into the cartridge chamber.The prematurely produced gas pressure can burst the cartridge case andlead to a blocking of the loading. It can also damage the weapon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, a barrier is provided in the event ofsuch a disturbance, if the inertia bolt does not reach the minimumcocking position upon its return travel, prevents the forward travel ofthe inertia bolt. Upon the action of the barrier, the user of theweapon, in the same way as upon jamming, will, without further examiningthe reason for the disturbance, pull the cocking lever back in knownmanner and in this connection move the bolt to behind the minimumcocking position so that further disturbance-free operation is possible.Not even a full cartridge will be ejected, but the movement of the boltwill continue from where the barrier stopped it.

Thus, by the invention, the occurrence of a serious jamming or evendamage to the weapon is avoided.

The minimum cocking position defines the position which the inertia boltmust assume in order not to fire the following cartridge prematurely.

The release position corresponds to the position which the inertia boltassumes when it is released by means of the trigger device. This releaseposition is so selected that an optimum moment of firing is assured.

In further accordance with invention the minimum cocking position is nowbrought as close as possible to this optimal release position.

In accordance another aspect of the invention, the barrier whichprevents the striking of the bolt when it has not reached the minimumcocking position is developed as a ratchet mechanism with a number ofratchet teeth and a ratchet pawl movable relative to them. Ratchet teethare teeth the one flank of which rises gently and the other flank risessteeply. In front of and behind the row of ratchet teeth, a space isprovided for the ratchet pawl, where the pawl changes its orientation.

The ratchet teeth are so arranged that, upon the return travel of theinertia bolt, their gently rising flanks come against the ratchet pawl.

Upon the return travel of the inertia bolt, the ratchet pawl is orientedsuch that its free end points towards the rear. It is pressed underspring action against the ratchet teeth and pressed away by their gentlyrising flanks.

If the inertia bolt reverses its direction of movement during thisphase, the ratchet pawl engages behind a steep flank of a ratchet toothand blocks the movement of the inertia bolt.

At the end of the row of ratchet teeth, at a place in the return travelof the inertia bolt which corresponds to the minimum cocking position,the ratchet pawl comes free and changes its orientation so that itpoints away from the steeply rising flanks of the ratchet teeth andtherefore cannot engage in them and thus does not prevent the movementof the inertia bolt.

The switching of the orientation of the ratchet pawl is effected by anose which is arranged at a place which corresponds to the minimumcocking position.

In accordance another aspect of the invention the ratchet teeth arecombined to form a rack-like arrangement which is arranged either on theinertia bolt or on the weapon housing, while the ratchet pawl, which isaligned by means of spring arrangement transverse to the rack, sits onthe other one of these elements.

The ratchet pawl is preferably seated on the housing, since, if arrangedon the inertia bolt, inertia forces acting on it could impair itsfunction.

In the case of the aforementioned known priority grenade launcher, thecontrol of the slides of the cartridge belt feed device is effected bygrooves which are developed in the inertia bolt and in which driverswhich are seated on the slides are seated.

This, in itself, very simple control has proven unsatisfactory. Thereason for this may be that during very short movement paths of theinertia bolt, the slides must move over relatively long paths so thattheir direct guidance must take place by guide grooves which arestrongly angled and thus leads to high forces and can, if, for examplethere is dirt, no longer be reliable. Furthermore, the amount of wear ishigh.

In accordance with the invention, this problem unreliability of functionand resistance to wear is also solved by the invention.

In this regard, a separate cam lever is provided which extends along thepath of movement of the inertia bolt and is controlled with it via acontrol connection which is formed of guide cam and driver. The camlever is connected to the slides via a rod.

Thus, it is possible to produce favorable force relationships in theengagement between guide cam and driver. Furthermore, it is possible tooptimize the material of the cam lever, which preferably has a guidegroove, with reference, in particular, to slight wear. Furthermore, thedriver, which preferably consists of a roller arranged on the inertiabolt, can be optimized, in which connection its weight contributes tothe weight, which is in any event necessary, of the inertia bolt and isthus without a problem.

In accordance with yet another embodiment, the cam lever is pivotablymounted at its front end; its swinging movement is tapped off behind itscenter by a two-arm shift lever and transferred forwards. Thisarrangement, which at first sight appears cumbersome, permits atransmission of force from the cam lever to the slides without step-upratio. The necessary tolerances between driver and control cam, whichassure the dependable operation of the weapon even in the event of dirt,are thus also not increased.

In accordance with another embodiment, the lever control which connectsthe rod to the slides, is arranged centrally and developed symmetricallywith two control levers. This arrangement provides a condition for theexchangeability of the slides and thus for the free selection of thedirection of the feeding of the cartridge belt.

Another embodiment provides a further development of the control leverswhich are mounted in a swingable cover and provided with a disengageablecoupling with which they easily pass into and out of an engagement withthe rod which is seated in the housing of the weapon above the inertiabolt. In this connection, the control is effected in simple manner overonly one of the two control levers, which transmits it on its part tothe other control lever.

This transmission is effected, in accordance with Claim 9, by a pivotedconnection between arms of the control levers. This pivoted connectionis effected without the use of an intermediate element.

The engagement of each lever in the slide associated with it is effectedin the same manner in each case, which not only makes a simplificationin manufacture possible but constitutes another condition for theaforementioned exchangeability of the slides.

In accordance with another embodiment each slide is guided in atransverse guide which are similarly development that the two slides areexchangeable.

Upon this exchange, the slides are not only exchanged but they are alsoreversed in their direction, i.e., turned around, so that the transverseguides must be symmetrically designed with regard to their longitudinalaxis.

This exchange of the slides makes it possible to develop the weapon withthe feed from the right or the left as may be required, so that, whenthe weapon is installed in the entrance of a helicopter or in the hatchof a tank, the cartridge belt can be fed from the more suitable side.

A further object of the invention is to develop this feed in such amanner that it is suitable for this purpose and furthermore guides thecartridge belt and unbelts it with maximum reliability of function.

The individual cartridges are surrounded, with frictional lock,approximately in the longitudinal center of the cartridge case by a beltmember which is developed in the manner of a pipe clamp and has, on theone side, a pin with a head fastened pivotally to the belt member and,on the opposite side, a protruding bow-shaped section having a slot. Theslot is widened at its front end and is so dimensioned such that thehead of the pin of the adjacent cartridge can pass through the widenedportion of the slot but not the rest of its section, in which the neckof the pin is guided. By means of the pin-slot connection, theindividual belt members are pivotally attached to each other.

In the case of the arrangement of the slides upon the forward travel ofthe inertia bolt, the two slides move in opposite directions, each fromthe outside from a starting position towards the inside, the inner pawlof the first slide engaging behind the first cartridge and conveying itup to in front of the cartridge chamber. At the same time, the secondslide moves in opposite direction from its starting position and passes,with the fixed support arranged on it, to alongside the first cartridgewhere this support prevents the cartridge from sliding out over itsposition behind the cartridge case. Now, the inertia bolt has arrivedbehind this cartridge and pushes it into the cartridge chamber, the beltmember sitting on the edge of the cartridge chamber and sliding rearwardon the cartridge. Upon the firing of the cartridge, the belt member andthe rear part of the cartridge case surrounded by it are outside thecartridge chamber.

Upon the return travel, the fired cartridge case pushes the inertia bolttowards the rear up to a position behind the cartridge belt feed device,where the cartridge case comes against an ordinary ejector and isejected through a single lateral window, regardless of whether thefeeding of the cartridge belt takes place from the right or the left.

At the same time, the two slides move back into their correspondingstarting position, the inner pawl of the first slide swinging over thefollowing cartridge and the support of the second slide moving outward,in order not to interfere with the extraction of the cartridge case. Atthe same time, the swing pawl arranged on this second slide pushes thefollowing cartridge further into a position in which it is guidedfurther by said inner pawl upon the next forward advance of the inertiabolt.

As can be seen, the moving up of each cartridge takes place in twosuccessive steps, in each case upon the forward travel and return travelof the inertia bolt, so that excessive accelerations and thus excessiveinertia forces are avoided.

The invention may include only one pawl, support, etc., but preferablyincludes several, and in particular two such elements are arranged onebehind the other in the longitudinal direction of the weapon (transverseto the cartridge belt) in order to hold the cartridge, upon all itsmovements, always aligned in the longitudinal direction of the weapon.

Thus, the weapon is suitable also to receive without disorder acartridge belt of the aforementioned type in which, as a result of theattachment of the belt members to each other, they are swingable withrespect to each other.

Further, a fixed stop similar to the support on the outer end of thesecond slide is seated on the inner end of the first slide; this supporthas the object of preventing the cartridge belt, which is advanced withthe bolt open, from sliding with its then frontmost cartridge beyond theposition which it is then to assume if it is to be grasped and movedfurther by the inner pawl.

It has been found in tests that, upon firing, the cartridge belt carriesout very vigorous, whiplike movements and experiences vibrations whichcan impair the introduction of the frontmost cartridge moved behind thecartridge chamber and directed to it.

To counteract this disadvantage that directly before or during theintroduction of the cartridge into the cartridge chamber, the cartridgebelt from which this cartridge has been already separated or removed, bemoved back slightly from this cartridge; the cartridge belt can now nolonger strike, as a result of its unavoidable movements, against thecartridge which is just being introduced into the cartridge chamber.

At the same time, it is also advantageous to move the support arrangedon the second slide back away from the cartridge so that it is notpressed forcefully towards the side by the head of the inertia bolt andthereby subjected to unnecessarily high wear.

While the said disturbances have up to now been counteracted in that thecartridge is arranged with a large amount of lateral play in front ofthe cartridge chamber, in the case of the invention the cartridge isheld precisely in front of the cartridge chamber until the process ofintroduction commences and is only then released from its lateralguides. As a result, the invention highly functionally dependable,regardless of the position and alignment of the weapon or of theaccelerations acting on it. The weapon of the invention can thus also befired during travel on a vehicle moving over the terrain without roadjolts impairing the reloading function.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 15, thisrelease of the cartridge is effected in the manner that the reversal inmovement of the slides does not take place only upon the firing andtherefore in the frontmost position of the inertia bolt, but alreadysomewhat earlier, so that a further outer pawl which is arranged on thefirst slide and is blocked against tilting at this time pulls thecartridge belt back and the support moves away from the cartridge whichhas just been introduced into the cartridge chamber.

In order to block this outer pawl and therefore to prevent its tipping,the second slide is so developed that it grips over the outer pawl andthus blocks it. It is thus possible to obtain this blocking functionwithout an additional structural part in precise association with thecourse of movement of the two slides.

As already mentioned above, the frontmost cartridge of the cartridgebelt is in an intermediate position when the inertia bolt is in itsrearmost position (release position). In this intermediate position, thefrontmost cartridge is gripped behind and supported by the swing pawl ofthe second slide.

Upon the insertion of the cartridge belt, however, the cover bearingthis swing pawl is swung up.

Furthermore, in the ready-to-fire position, the frontmost cartridge liescontinuously against this swing pawl so that it must withstand allinertia forces exerted by the cartridge belt.

In order to fix the exact position of the cartridge belt upon itsinsertion and with the cover open, and in order to take up the inertiaforces of the cartridge belt, an upwardly urged blocking lever, whichacts like a pawl, is arranged below the cartridge belt fed, against theprotruding end of which lever pointing to the longitudinal center of theweapon, the outer side of the frontmost cartridge rests in saidintermediate position.

If the belt is conveyed further, then the blocking lever moves awaydownward evading the following cartridge, without hindering it, and thenpasses, when it is in the intermediate position, again upward in orderto again act as support. In this way, not only is a stop for the preciseinsertion of the cartridge belt created, but, furthermore, thewearing-out or even breaking-off of the swing pawl or structural partsconnected with it is prevented.

The cartridge used for the grenade launcher of the invention is a rimcartridge, and therefore a cartridge with a radially protruding rim.Furthermore, this cartridge bears a belt member. If such a cartridgelies on a flat surface, then the longitudinal axis of the cartridge isinclined to this surface. The movement of such a cartridge preciselyparallel to its longitudinal axis is thus problematical.

In view of this problem, the invention is directed at permitting anexact and thus particularly disturbance-free introduction of thecartridge into the cartridge chamber.

In this case, below the cartridge chamber there is developed a guidetable on which the advanced cartridge belt rests and can be fed smoothlyand without disturbance onto a cartridge rest.

When the process of removal from the belt takes place and the frontmostcartridge is introduced into the cartridge chamber, then the cartridgerest moves away downward in such a manner that the cartridge, gripped onits bottom by the head of the inertia bolt, can align itself to it, andthus be dependably introduced into the cartridge chamber.

The tip of the cartridge thus always remains at the height of the centerof the cartridge chamber; only the rear part dips so far downward uponthe evasion of the cartridge support that the axis of the cartridge isdirected fully on the axis of the core.

In order to make certain that the cartridge rest does not yield at thewrong time, it is controlled by the movement of the inertia bolt and isreleased by the latter only when, shortly before or when it removes thefrontmost cartridge from the belt and in this connection introduces itinto the cartridge chamber.

The cartridge rest bears the relatively heavy cartridge at least for ashort period of time, in which connection blows acting on the weapon canmultiply the load on the cartridge rest. Spring loading alone is thusprobably not sufficient in order to provide assurance that the cartridgerest only yields when it is controlled by the inertia bolt.

In order to remedy this problem a lock is provided which holds thecartridge rest fast in its normal position. The lock is released by theinertia bolt so that the release of the lock is always adapted inreliable manner to the lowering of the cartridge rest, which is alsocontrolled by the inertia bolt.

The cartridge rest can be developed as a plate, but it is developed asan arrangement of at least one transverse finger the mass of which isrelatively slight, so that its rapid evasion and swinging back does notresult in any disturbance in the movement of the bolt and, inparticular, does not result in high wear.

It is a general rule that weapons of all kinds should not be firedempty, namely without cartridge or buffer cartridge in the cartridgechamber.

On the other hand, it is necessary, upon the development, frequently toexert firing, loading operations, etc. on the weapons.

In order to avoid the damage to the grenade launcher of the inventionwhich it could experience by the empty firing of the inertia bolt, abuffer spring arrangement which intercepts and brakes the inertia boltduring the final phase of its forward movement is provided.

This buffer spring arrangement is so developed that it does not enterinto action upon the normal shooting process, since the inertia bolt canthen move forward at most up to the bottom of the cartridge whichprotrudes a distance out of the cartridge chamber, but not up to thebuffer spring arrangement.

Preferably two spring guide rods which extend parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the weapon are provided for the closing springs,said rods passing through the inertia bolt in each case in alongitudinal hole. At the front end of each of these spring guide rodsthere is arranged a buffer spring which rests against the front end ofthe housing and preferably is seated in part, in a bore hole so thatsufficient space for the reception thereof is created.

The arrangement of two buffer springs supplies, as does the arrangementof two closure springs, a redundance of parts which, in the event of thebreaking of a spring, makes further operation of the weapon possible,although perhaps with disturbances.

The buffer springs can possibly be installed only for training purposes,and be removed before use of the weapon.

In a traditional self-loading weapon, the bolt is, as a rule, guided ingrooves and ridges which are developed within the housing. These slidesurfaces extended into the ejector opening and the opening for thefeeding of the cartridge belt and can therefore easily collect dirt,which can lead to malfunctioning.

Furthermore, the outer walls of the housing which form these slidesurfaces must be sufficiently stiff and thus correspondingly heavy.

Furthermore, it is difficult to produce the slide surfaces arranged withlarge distance apart opposite each other with sufficient precision.

In order to improve the reliability in function of the grenade launcherof the invention with, at the same time, reduced cost of construction,the inertia bolt is not guided on its outer surface but is passedthrough by a longitudinal channel with which it is seated displaceablyon a longitudinal guide arranged fixed in position in the housing.

The relatively small dimensions of the longitudinal guide and of thelongitudinal channel permit simple manufacture with sufficientdimensional precision. The housing sidewalls, if they are not to performother functions, need merely be developed as covering and can becorrespondingly light or be made of correspondingly less stablematerial, for instance plastic.

Most important, however, is the fact this guide arrangement within thehousing is at a far distance from openings therein through which dirtcan pass into the inside of the housing.

With a suitable arrangement of the longitudinal guide, its ends can bearranged in regions of the housing in which no parts essential for thefunctioning are arranged; dirt which is pushed by the movable inertiabolt to the ends of the longitudinal guide can collect there withoutimpairing the reliability of the function of the weapon. Thus, theoperation of the weapon, even in dust and mud, is possible over a longperiod of time without cleaning of the weapon being absolutelynecessary.

A particularly cost-favorable and, at the same time, dirt-protecting andthus functionally dependable development resides in the use of a roundrod as longitudinal guide which is guided in a clearance hole within theinertia bolt.

The round rod can have annular grooves to receive lubricant, sliderings, or dirt.

A simple supporting of the bolt for example, by engagement of the driverin the guide groove of the cam lever, is entirely sufficient to preventthe inertia bolt from turning around the round rod.

The housing of the self-loading weapon of this type affords greatproblems even if it is not to serve as longitudinal guide for theinertia bolt: Development as a forging of steel or light metal which issubsequently machined is difficult and furthermore very expensive. Awelded construction from blanks or stamped and bent parts is, to besure, easier and cheaper, but it is still difficult to produce free ofwarping and in correct dimensions. Furthermore, a welded housing hasfine, inaccessible grooves which can form the starting points forcorrosion. Welded housings of light metal are particularly expensive.

A housing which is as light as possible but with accurate dimensions,preferably of light metal, with as few joints as possible, is desirable.

This requirement is satisfied by the grenade launcher of the invention.The main section of the housing is formed of a section of ahollow-profile material which can possibly be subsequently machined (forinstance, ejection window). The hollow-profile material is closed on itsfront side by a block in which the barrel is seated and which possiblybears the longitudinal guide as well as spring guide rods.

The rear of the hollow-profile material section can be closed by thetrigger device.

The hollow-profile material can preferably be an extruded hollowprofile, preferably of light metal, for instance duraluminum. Thehollow-profile material can on the inside have longitudinal ribs, etc.,which can serve for the guiding of the inertia bolt insofar as it is notguided by the longitudinal guide rod described above.

The hollow-profile material can have longitudinal ribs, longitudinalgrooves, etc., on its outside which can serve to receive a gun-carriagemount, sights, infrared illumination, or the like.

The hollow-profile material is preferably, a closed box profile orhollow profile which receives the inertia bolt and is extended towardsthe top by an open box profile or hollow profile which receives the camlever and is covered by a removable cover. The lengthwise partition wallbetween the closed and open hollow profiles has a lengthwise extendingmilled slot which is passed through by the driver arranged on theinertia bolt. The swing pins for the cam lever, shift lever, etc. arealso seated in this partition wall.

The particular advantage of this arrangement is that the sensitivecontrol is arranged in a manner substantially protected separatelyagainst dirt and also powder gases and nevertheless is readilyaccessible.

The outer and/or inner surfaces of the housing formed in this manner arepreferably surface-treated in order to achieve a camouflage coloring,resistance to corrosion by, for example, salt water, and improvedabrasion resistance, and other desirable surface properties.

Hard anodizing of the inner and outer surfaces of the light-metalhousing has proven particularly suitable.

As already mentioned, the cartridge belt which is fed jerkily in thecase of continuous firing, tends to carry out sudden whiplike movements,which can lead to disturbances in function.

In order to mitigate these movement and assure a smooth entrance of thecartridge belt into the weapon, a belt guidance platform which supportsthe cartridge belt from below is provided and a covering which guidesthe cartridge belt from above both of which can be applied detachably tothe housing of the weapon.

While the belt guidance platform and the covering adjoin the cartridgebelt from the bottom and top respectively at the cartridge belt inletopening of the weapon housing, this opening is limited at its front andrear ends by a freely rotatable cartridge belt guide roller. Bothcartridge belt guide rollers have such a diameter that a hooking of thecartridges to the rollers is impossible. Preferably, both cartridge beltguide rollers are of circular cylindrical shape and have the samediameter.

As already frequently mentioned above, the device of the invention forthe guiding and unbelting of the cartridge belt can be reversed forfeeding from the right or from the left as desired, and preferablywithout the use of any exchange parts. Accordingly, the weapon housinghas two entrance openings for the cartridge belt which lie opposite eachother.

These entrance openings are preferably arranged on both sides of thehousing but, in the case of special use of the grenade launcher, forexample, in land, sea, or air vehicles, can also be arranged on the topand bottom of the housing.

In order to avoid unnecessary dirt, the entrance opening which is notbeing used can be closed by a wall or covering which is preferablydeveloped as an attachable sheet-metal plate, but can also be developedas a plastic plug which can be inserted.

The above-mentioned belt guide platform and covering are developedsymmetrically with respect to their center line, which extends in eachcase transverse to the longitudinal axis of the weapon, so that they canbe arranged in front of each of the entrance openings.

In order still further to improve the disturbance-free guidance of thecartridge belt contained in an ammunition box, complementary holdingmeans are developed on this ammunition box and on the weapon housing,which means comprise a mount closer to the or each entrance opening onthe housing.

The covering can be a structural element which is permanently attachedto the weapon housing but it preferably forms a part of the ammunitionbox so that the covering, after it has been placed on the weaponhousing, forms a continuous reliable guide for the cartridge belt fromthe ammunition box into the weapon.

The covering is preferably arranged on the cover of the ammunition boxor forms a part with it.

The cartridge belt again can only be inserted into the weapon when thecover bearing the slides has been opened and the inertia bolt is in itsrearmost position, namely its position of release.

In this position of release, the inertia bolt is acted on, to be sure,by the closure spring arrangement and is held merely by the triggerdevice.

If the belt is inserted, or if it is attempted, for instance, toeliminate a jam, then the hand of the user is present in the path ofmovement of the inertia bolt. If the bolt is now unintentionallyreleased or if it becomes released due, for instance, to a road jolt ofthe vehicle on which the weapon is mounted, then an injury to the handof the user, which may be serious, is to be expected. This is all themore serious if the user requires the injured hand at that very timeprimarily in order to operate the weapon.

In order to avoid this disadvantage, a bolt lock which is coupled to thecover and activated when the cover is opened is provided in the weaponof the invention. This bolt lock either holds the inertia bolt in itsposition of release and prevents its firing even if it has been releasedby mistake or as the result of a disturbance, or intercepts the forwardtraveling bolt before it can reach the region of the cartridge feeddevice and injure a hand which is present there.

This bolt lock can be positively coupled with the cover or with itsinterlock but it is preferably provided with a sensor which determineswhether the cover is in its closed position or not.

This sensor can control a release device, but it is preferably a feelerfinger which is urged into its blocking position by a spring, namelyinto a position in which it makes the bolt lock active. The feelerfinger is directly connected for transmission of movement with a locklever which can engage into the inertia bolt or into its path ofmovement and hold it fast or stop it.

Insofar as the inertia bolt is provided with a driver guided in the camlever, said lock lever is advantageously movable into the path ofmovement of the driver. The driver namely forms a particularly resistantstructural part protruding from the inertia bolt and is not damaged evenif it travels forcefully against the lock lever.

In order, now, to permit also easy construction of the lock lever, itengages into a recess in the cam lever. This cam lever is of very stabledevelopment as a heavily loaded structural part and is supported on astrong mount fastened to the housing.

If the driver of the inertia bolt comes against the lock lever, then thelatter introduces all forces taken up by into the sufficiently stablecam lever on which it rests in the recess.

The engagement projection of the lock lever is in this connection onlyslightly loaded, since it transmits all forces acting on it; thus, thereis no danger of the engagement projection or the lock lever breakingoff, but rather assurance is had that the blocking always remainsactive.

The position of the engagement projection and of the recess in the camlever is so selected that the inertia bolt is stopped only shortlybefore reaching the cartridge feed device.

This arrangement has the advantage that the barrier, the feeler fingerof which extends into the region of the cover, is developed as short aspossible. Furthermore, by the noticeable striking of the inertia bolt upto the lock lever, it is clearly recognizable by the user that theinertia bolt, by mistake or due to a disturbance, is no longer in therelease position, and before closing the cover he can bring it againinto its release position, so that the undisturbed operation of theweapon can be continued, insofar as no damage is present.

There are a large number of safety devices which will prevent theunintended firing of a cartridge.

In a weapon of the type in accordance with the invention, such a safetyis even more important than in other weapons, since the firing of acartridge is to take place only when the inertia bolt is at a givenposition shortly in front of the end or its path of movement and has agiven speed there.

Another object of the invention is to provide an effective safety.

This object is achieved by an embodiment in which the firing pin isseated in a firing-pin case which, in its turn, is seated inlongitudinally displaceable manner in the inertia bolt and is movableinto a rear position in which it prevent the firing pin from emergingout of the impact bottom of the inertia bolt in order to fire acartridge.

While the dimensions, material, and weight of the firing pin arestructurally established within narrow limits, such limitations do notapply to the firing-pin case, so that it can be readily provided withsafety devices or coupled to them.

This firing-pin case is so developed that there is no possibility of thefiring pin firing a cartridge when the firing-pin case is in its rearposition.

The firing-pin case is connected in particularly advantageous manner bymeans of a control lever with a cam which is fastened to the housing, sothat the firing-pin case is moved, for all practical purposes, into itsfrontmost position only in the region of that position of the inertiabolt, in which the firing of cartridge is to take place. Thus, anyimproper firing is out of the question.

The firing pin is connected via an intermediate part with a firing-pinspring for the driving, is engaged or locked in its cocked position, andis released as a function of the position of the inertia bolt.

If the firing pin is not driven by the firing-pin spring due to a breakor the like of a functional part such as, for instance, the firing-pinspring, then it can, upon the striking of the inertia bolt move inuncontrolled fashion and lead to further damage.

In the absence of the action of the firing-pin spring, the intermediatepart engages directly or indirectly into the control of the firing-pincase in such a manner that it continues to remain in its rear position.

The aforementioned grenade launcher of the prior art has, on both sidesof the path of movement of the inertia bolt, a lengthwise slit in eachof the housing sidewalls which is passed through by a handle whichextends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the weapon and isfastened to the inertia bolt.

Upon firing, the two handles carry out a longitudinal movement; if thismovement is prevented, then this can lead to a disturbance in function.

Furthermore, dirt can enter the housing through the longitudinal slitspassed through by the handles.

However, the loading process is particularly cumbersome, because theuser must bend over the weapon and, with one or both hands, grip thehandle or each handle and pull it strongly rearward. Since, in thiscase, the force of the very strong closing spring arrangement must beovercome, a considerable expenditure of force is necessary. Furthermore,it is impossible, upon this activity, to retain the alignment of theweapon on a mount, since the weapon, on its part, is pulled stronglyrearward via the handle or handles.

Thus, it is, for instance, purposeless to set the uncocked weapon on atarget, since the setting is lost upon the cocking.

However, it is frequently particularly important, for instance to directthe weapon in daylight onto a section of the terrain, for instance a dipin the terrain or a street where one expects the presence of the enemyat night. In this case, it is not possible for safety reasons to keepthe weapon continuously cocked.

Furthermore, the user is forced, for example, when a jam occurs, to bendover the weapon and thus place himself into a dangerous position.

These disadvantages limit the usefulness of the known grenade launcherto a substantial extent.

In another embodiment, these disadvantages are eliminated. Here, thehandle for the cocking of the inertia bolt is developed as a pull gripon the rear of the housing, which grip is connected, via a rod, a pullmember to the inertia bolt, so that, upon the pulling-out of the pullgrip, the inertia bolt is carried along rearward into the releaseposition.

Then the pull grip is pushed completely again into the housing so thatthe inertia bolt can move back and forth without being prevented by thepull grip, its rod, or its pull member.

This development has no handle which moves back and forth upon theshooting. The rod or pull member is moved in its longitudinal directionthrough a housing opening in the rear wall of the housing, and not inits transverse direction, so that it can always completely cover thehousing opening passed through by them and thus exclude the penetrationof dirt.

However, the fact that the user who has gripped the handle or pull gripwith the one hand in order to cock the inertia bolt can support himselfwith the other hand on the rear of the housing, preferably on the handlearranged there, is of particular advantage. Thus, all forces are activebetween the two hands of the user; a component of force which coulddisturb the setting of the weapon can be avoided after a slight amountof practice.

However, in particular, the user upon cocking the inertia bolt canremain covered behind the weapon and need not bend over it.

Preferably, a disengageable barrier is provided which holds the handleor the pull grip detachably in the inserted position in order to preventthe handle loosening as a result of vibration or the like, anddisturbing the movement of the inertia bolt via the rod or the pullgrip.

A particularly suitable force-transmitting connection between handle andinertia bolt without additional structural parts also provided. In thisembodiment, as also in the prior art grenade launcher, there are twoclosing springs each of which is guided on a spring guide rod. Theclosing springs are developed as compression springs; they are seatedbetween the inertia bolt and the rear end of the housing and each ofthem surrounds a spring guide rod.

These spring guide rods, however, are not seated, fixed in position inthe housing, as in the prior art grenade launcher, but are displaceablein their longitudinal direction. On their rear, they bear the handle orpull grip, and, on their front, they bear a driver arrangement by whichthey grip behind the inertia bolt from the front and carry it alongrearward upon their rearward movement.

In their frontmost position, in which they are held as a result of thedetachable barrier which holds the handle, their front ends extendpreferably into recesses or holes in the front end of the housing andare thus held stably against lateral deflection upon the firing.

The driver arrangement can be formed by a protruding annular collar, butit is preferably developed as a buffer spring the front end of whichrests on a support firmly connected to the spring guide rod, forinstance a spring ring.

The two spring guide rods lie horizontally alongside each other in thehousing; the handle is thus formed as a horizontal grip which extendstransversely to the longitudinal axis of the weapon. This is veryfavorable from an ergonomic standpoint.

Furthermore, the weapon preferably has on its rear, in customaryfashion, two vertical grips arranged alongside of each other, with eachof which a thumb-actuated trigger plate is associated. Both triggerplates can be combined into a single thumb plate.

Upon the cocking of the inertia bolt, the user grips the horizontalhandle with that hand which he prefers to use and with his other handgrips the vertical handle opposite it. Now, the weapon is so to bepulled up with subjectively little expenditure of force so that no forceor scarcely any force is applied to the mount of the weapon.

The above-mentioned barrier for the detachable holding of the horizontalhandle has an integrated release lever which is positively actuated uponthe gripping of the handle and places the lock into action upon releaseof the handle. Thus, a necessary separate operation (loosening of thelock) is integrated in another operation (gripping or release of thehandle), so that the particularly simple operation is assured.

Another problem of the known weapon resides in the danger of unintendedfiring due to a disturbance of the weapon.

The inertia bolt is detachably held by the trigger device, in whichconnection, by means of a hook-shaped swing lever which is swingable bymeans of the trigger thumb plate, it engages behind a transverse sear onthe end of the inertia bolt which is released upon the actuation of thetrigger-thumb plate.

The inertia of the inertia bolt and the force of the closing springarrangement are large. If inertia forces which act in longitudinaldirection and support the force of the closure springs, for example dueto the vehicle bearing the weapon striking hard against a bump in theroad, are also present, then the force acting on the hook section of theswing lever becomes very great.

On the other hand, this swing lever (or better, a pair of similar swinglevers lying alongside each other) must not be too heavy so that it isnot, on its part, unintentionally released by inertia forces against theforce of the restoring spring acting on it. This restoring spring, onits part, must not be too hard, so that a targeted withdrawal ispossible. Due to the structural constrictions indicated, the danger of abreak in the force-absorbing parts of the trigger device in the case ofa weapon of the aforementioned type is greater than, for instance, inthe case of a self-loading pistol. If this danger is reduced by a strongdevelopment of the swing lever, then at the same time the danger ofunintended firing by inertia forces which actuate the trigger device isincreased at the same time.

While the last-mentioned danger can be reduced by suitable safetieswhich can hold the swing lever or an element particularly high inertiain the trigger device, the danger of the breaking-off of the releaselever cannot be counteracted by any safety, which merely holds thetrigger device fast.

Proceeding from this problem, the invention solves these difficultiesproviding a further additional safety device which holds the inertiabolt fast independently of the trigger device.

If the trigger device fails, then the additional safety device holds theinertia bolt fast in, or close to, its release position.

If the above-mentioned spring lever should be broken and the triggerdevice thus becomes inactive, then the weapon could still be fired ifnecessary, the additional safety device being used as trigger. Theweapon is thus not entirely useless despite a considerable disturbance.

In order to permit this possibility of emergency operation, theadditional safety device is contained, also in the trigger device,namely by a catch hook of its own which preferably engages behind thetrigger sear on the inertia bolt like the swing lever connected with thetrigger.

It would be possible to associate the catch hook with an actuating andlocking arrangement of its own. It is, however, preferred that it becoupled with the safety device which is, present, so that a separateoperating handle and thus a separate operation can be dispensed with.

The catch hook is arranged in positive manner slightly in front of theactual release position, so that upon the release of the trigger device,if the additional safety device is active, the inertia bolt moves ashort distance forward, drops into the catch hook, and can no longer beheld by the trigger device proper.

If the weapon is now without safety, the shot takes place. In order toprevent this, a measure is taken which permits the release of theinertia bolt which is held by the catch hook only when it has beenpreviously moved back into the release position.

This measure can consist of a deeply recessed catch hook which is heldfast by the trigger sear on the inertia bolt into which it engages insuch a manner that is cannot enter the non-safety position.

In this case, to be sure, the above-mentioned possibility of the firingof the weapon by means of the additional safety device is not present.

The object of the invention will be further explained by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which asingle preferred embodiment of the grenade launcher of the invention hasbeen shown. In this embodiment, all the above-indicated features of theclaims have been combined.

However, it is expressly pointed out that the corresponding groups offeatures can be realized also independently of other groups of featuresin the case of a weapon.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that thedrawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not asdefinition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should bemade to the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal view of an embodiment of a grenade launcher ofthe invention, with the housing cover and feeder cover removed;

FIG. 1a is an enlarged partial view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the grenade launcher shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic section through the grenade launcher along theline III--III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section similar to FIG. 3 in which the feeder position afterinsertion of the cartridge belt is shown, the inertia bolt being in itsrelease position (rearmost position);

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, such as shown in FIG. 4, after the inertiabolt has started its forward movement;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view, such as shown in FIG. 4, in which thefrontmost cartridge is in feed position;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view, such as shown in FIG. 4, upon the start ofthe return of the inertia bolt;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view, such as shown in FIG. 4, upon the extractionof the fired cartridge case;

FIG. 9 is a partial section through the bolt head of the inertia bolt;and

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic partial sectional showing of the bolt catchdevice.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the figures, the same reference numerals have been used in all casesfor the same structural parts or elements.

The grenade launcher shown in the overall views of FIGS. 1 and 2consists essentially of a housing group 100, a bolt group with springand handle device 200, a feeder group with control 300, and a triggerdevice group 400. The cartridge belt introduced into the grenadelauncher is designated 500; it is known per se and as such does not forma part of the weapon.

The Cartridge Belt 500

For a full understanding of the weapon, however, the known cartridgebelt will first of all be discussed, reference being had to FIGS. 1 and3. In the other figures of the drawing, the reference numerals relatingto the cartridge belt have been omitted in order not to confuse thedrawing.

The cartridge belt contains a front cartridge 502, a first followingcartridge 504 and other cartridges 506 (only one shown in FIG. 2).

Each of the cartridges 502, 504, and 506 has a missile and a cartridgecase, which at its rear end has a flange-like protruding rim, andreceives the primer and the propelling charge.

Each cartridge case bears a belt member 508 which surrounds it like apipe clamp and is formed of a sheet-metal band. The belt members 508 areomitted in FIG. 2.

The belt member has on the upper and lower sides of the cartridge 502,504, in each case a wide, flattened projection 516 and 514 respectively,on the one side (to the left in FIG. 3) a narrow flattened projection510 which has a slot with widened end, and on the other side aprojection having a pivot pin 512 which is arranged pivotally on it andhas a thickened free end.

When the belt is assembled the pivot pin 512 is seated in the slot inthe projection 510 of the adjacent belt member 508 and engages behind itwith its thickened end.

If adjacent cartridges are shifted against each other, then thethickened end of the pivot pin 512 comes in front of the widened end ofthe slot which receives it so that the two adjacent cartridges 502, 504can be moved apart. In this way, the removal from the belt takes place;the belt member 508 remains also on the unbelted cartridge.

The belt member 508 is seated, in the case of the un-shot cartridge,approximately on the front half of the cartridge case and tightlysurrounds it.

If the cartridge is introduced into a cartridge chamber 108, then thebelt member sits on the rear end of the cartridge chamber 108 and ispushed rearward up to against the rim of the cartridge. The cartridgecan thus be introduced into the cartridge chamber 108 only to such anextent that the cartridge rim is separated from the rear end of thecartridge chamber 108 by a distance which corresponds to the axiallength of the belt member 508.

The cartridge case is so constructed that it withstands the gas pressureupon the firing, although it is not completely introduced into thecartridge chamber 108.

The preferred embodiment of the grenade launcher of the invention willnow be described:

The Housing Group 100

The main part of the housing group is formed by an extrudedhollow-profile bar 102, referred to in the following as the "housing",which has essentially a cross section with two parallel side arms whichare connected in one piece at their lower end and approximately at theircenter by, in each case, a straight cross arm which is attached at aright angle.

The housing 102 thus has a left housing wall 126, a right housing wall128, and a housing bottom 130

The longitudinal center line of the housing is designated 114.

The housing 102 is formed by the cutting to length and subsequentmachining of an extruded hollow-profile bar, in which connection, as aresult of the machining, a front transversely extending milling isformed which serves for the introduction of the cartridge belt 500,having a right entrance opening 116 and a left entrance opening 118, andfurthermore, an ejection opening 120 developed in the right housing wallthrough which fired cartridge cases, dummy cartridges, or cartridge dudsare ejected from the housing, and a lengthwise milling in the uppertransverse bar so that by the latter a right housing rib 122 and a lefthousing rib 124, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, are formed thereby; on each ofthe facing edges of the two housing ribs 122, 124 there is arranged asteel strip with a cam, namely the cam 138 for the firing pin case 416on the right-hand edge and the cam 140 for the control of the strikingof the firing pin 414 on the left edge.

The place where the recess in the upper transverse rib limited by thetwo housing ribs 122, 124 is not necessary, said rib remains, forinstance at the bridge 144.

The housing 102 is hard-anodized in order to obtain a suitable coloring(camouflage color) and surface quality (resistance to rubbing and slidebehavior).

In the front end of the housing 102, a steel block 104 is firmlyarranged, it bearing the barrel 106, centered on the longitudinal centerline 114, having the cartridge chamber 108.

The steel block 104 has, below and on both sides of the barrel 106, ineach case a rearwardly open blind receiving hole 134 which is, in eachcase, passed through by a spring guide rod 214 and receives a bufferspring 218 seated and supported on said bar.

The buffer spring extends towards the rear up into the enlarged mouth ofthe receiving hole 134. This mouth is so dimensioned that it canreceive, in each case, a projection 204 of the bolt carrier 228 of theinertia bolt 202 when the latter moves all the way forward (uponstriking without cartridge).

In the bottom of the blind hole 134, a stepped supporting and receivingpassage hole debouches in which the spring guide rod 214 developed witha guide ring bead and an end pin is contained substantially withoutplay. In this connection, the free, front end of the end pin is roundedso that the spring guide rod, when it is moved forward into thereceiving hole 134, can align itself.

In the center, between the two receiving holes, the housing 102 ispassed through lengthwise by a round rod 132 (FIG. 1, indicated in FIG.3) which is fastened in the steel block 104 and guides the inertia bolt202 upon its movement.

On the rear of the housing 102, the latter is closed by an end covering110 in which two guides 136 for the spring guide rods 214 are seated andin which the round rod 132 is supported.

The end covering bears a part of the trigger device group 400 and can beremoved towards the rear together with the latter and the bolt group200.

The top of the housing 102 is covered by a removable housing cover 112which extends from the end covering 110 up to approximately the bridge144.

Approximately in the center of the length of the housing 102, a ratchetpawl 142 is arranged for swinging around a transverse pin on the innerside of the housing body 130 and is so acted on by a spring system (notshown) that it tends to assume a substantially vertical position.

On the housing 102 further parts, not shown in detail here, are alsofastened, for instance an ejector on the inner side of the left housingwall 126, a mounting for a sight on the outer side of the left housingwall 26, in each case a mount for an ammunition box outside on the leftor right housing wall 126, 128 in the region of the left and rightentrance openings 118, 116, a mount for the application of a gun mounton the outside on the left and right housing walls 126, 128 and/or onthe housing bottom 130, etc.

Furthermore, at the rear end, on the outside on the left and righthousing walls 126, 128, there are arranged in each case an upper andlower holding bracket extending rearward and towards the outside; theend of the holding brackets which lie one above the other are eachconnected by generally vertical left and right handles 146, 148.

The gripping of one or both handles 146, 148 permits the aiming andfiring of the grenade launcher in customary manner.

Finally, on the rear of the left housing wall 126, on the bottom andoutside there is a rearward extending extension which, on its rear end,has an inward-pointing detent projection 150, but as a whole is soarranged that it does not prevent the removal and insertion of the boltgroup 200.

The Bolt Group 200

The bolt group 200 has an inertia bolt 202 which is formed of a bolthead 224 which is coaxial to the longitudinal center line 114 and a boltcarrier 228 parallel thereto, which lie one above the other and areconnected together at their rear.

The bolt head 224 has on its front side an impact bottom 208 which islimited on the right side by an ordinary spring-actuated, forwardprotruding extractor 210.

Opposite this, an extractor (not shown) is also arranged on the leftside in order, in case of vibration of the weapon, to assure adisturbance-free extraction of the cartridge case through the regiontaken up by the cartridge belt 500 up to in front of the ejectionopening 120; this left-hand extractor is opened upon the return travelof the bolt by a stop which is fixed on the housing and it frees theedge of the extracted cartridge case shortly before the latter comesagainst the ejector which also fixed on the housing.

The bolt head 224 has, coaxial to its longitudinal center line 144, anaxial bore hole 212 (see FIG. 7) which is developed as a blind hole openat the rear, the bottom of which is passed through in customary mannerby a passage channel for the tip of the firing pin 414.

This axial hole 212 receives the above-mentioned firing-pin case 416,the firing pin 414, and its firing spring (not shown).

The bolt carrier 228 has three holes: a fitted hole (not shown) which isintended to slide substantially without play on the round rod 132, andtwo rearwardly open closure-spring-receiving blind holes 206 which arecoaxial to in each case one of the receiving holes 134.

The bottom of these closure-spring-receiving blind holes 206 is passedthrough in each case by a smaller hole through which a spring guide rod214 extends in each case.

Over the rear section of each spring guide rod 214 there is placed aclosure spring 234 which is developed as a coil compression spring.

Each of these closure springs rests at the front against the bottom ofthe corresponding closure-spring receiving hole 206 and at the rearagainst the spring rod guide 136.

The above-mentioned projections 204 are developed on the front side ofthe bolt carrier 228.

As stated when describing the housing group 100, the spring guide rods214 extend in the fire-ready condition of the grenade launcher, forwardup into the corresponding developments of a corresponding receiving hole134 in the steel block 104, in which then a buffer spring 218 pushedover the spring guide rod 214 is also received.

This buffer spring 218 can rest either directly against the bottom ofthe receiving hole 134 or against a radial projection of the springguide rod 214.

Upon the pulling back of the spring guide rod 214, the buffer spring 218is carried along eight by the guide ring bead formed in front of saidspring on the spring guide rod 214 or by its support on the spring guiderod 214 itself.

The two spring guide rods 214 extend through the spring rod guides 136to the rear and are firmly connected to each other there by a cockinggrip 216 which extends below the lower ends of the right and lefthandles 148, 146, transversely and horizontally respectively.

In order to cock the bolt 202, the cocking grip 216 is pulled outsufficiently far horizontally to the rear from the housing 102 andpushed in forward direction then until it comes against the stop. Inthis connection, the one hand of the user grips the handle 146 or 148corresponding to said hand in order to support himself, while the otherhand actuates the cocking grip 216. Thus, cocking of the weapon ispossible without the user having to bend over the weapon and without itbeing necessary to exert on the weapon forces which might impair apossible previously effected adjustment on a target.

In the region of the left end of the cocking grip 216, there is arrangedon it a release lever 120 which is swingable about a vertical axis andpressed by spring force towards the outside, it being so arranged thatwith the cocking grip 216 pushed fully forward it engages in blockingfashion behind the detent projection 150 of the housing 102. In thisconnection, the facing edges of detent projection 150 and/or releaselever 220 are so beveled that they engage in each other when they aremoved against each other.

The release lever is provided with a lengthening (not shown) which is soarranged on the cocking lever 216 that, upon the gripping of the latter,it can also be easily gripped so that the releasable barrier formed bythe detent projection 150 and the release lever 220 is opened and thecocking process is not prevented.

If the cocking grip, on the other hand, is pushed all the way forwardand released, then this releasable barrier 150, 220 enters intoengagement and prevents any undesired release of the cocking grip 216.

The bolt head 224 furthermore bears at the rear on its top a centrallyarranged cam lever driver 22 which is preferably formed as a hardenedroller which is turnable around a vertical axis.

On the rear of the inertia bolt 202 there is furthermore arranged atrigger sear 230 which is developed as a transverse upwardly extendingstrip the surface of which lies just below the longitudinal center line114 and the front side of which forms a substantially verticallydescending transverse surface.

The trigger sear 230 is so developed that it is gripped from above by anose on the front end of a trigger lever 404 which is swingablysupported in the trigger device 402 around a horizontal axis. If thenose of the trigger lever 404 is swung upward, the trigger sear 230 andthus the inertia bolt 202 are released so that the bolt can move rapidlyforward under the action of the closure springs 234.

Above the trigger sear 230 there is a hook-like catch projection 232which is open towards the front and can be gripped from above; it isshown in FIG. 10 and will be explained further below in connection withthe trigger device group 44.

On the bottom of the bolt carrier 228, as is also shown on FIG. 1a thereis arranged a row of ratchet teeth 226 lying one behind the other inlongitudinal direction, the front tooth flanks of which extendvertically, the tooth tips of which are horizontally flattened, and therear tooth flanks of which are inclined at a very shallow angle of, forinstance, 10° with respect to the horizontal.

The space between the rear tooth flank of a front ratchet tooth 226 andthe front tooth flank of a following ratchet tooth 226 is flattenedhorizontally.

The vertical distance between the ratchet teeth 226 and the ratchet pawl142 arranged swingably on the housing 102 is such that the ratchet pawl142 can erect itself under the ratchet teeth 226 only up to such anoblique position that it is able, when it is tipped towards the rear, toapply itself in blocking fashion against one of the front tooth flankswhile, when it is tipped to the front, it allows the ratchet teeth 226to slide unimpeded over it.

The length of the rack-like row of ratchet teeth 226 and thus of thebolt carrier 228 is so dimensioned that this row has traveled completelyforward or backward over the ratchet pawl 142 when the inertia bolt 202is in its frontmost or rearmost position.

In each of these positions, the ratchet pawl 142 can thus erect itselfcompletely under spring action so that, upon the return travel of theinertia bolt 202, it is tilted towards the rear while upon the forwardtravel thereof it is tilted towards the front.

In the position shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 1a the inertia bolt 202 is inits release position, in which it is held fast in its position by theengagement of the trigger lever 404 in the trigger sear 230. Thisrelease position is slightly in front of the rearmost end of the returntravel, where it permits the ratchet pawl to erect itself completely.Now, in the release position, the front end of the rack-like row ofratchet teeth 226 acts from the rear against the ratchet pawl 142 andtilts it forward.

If the inertia bolt 202 is now released, it travels unimpeded over theratchet pawl 142 until it comes into its frontmost position. Here theratchet pawl 142 moves up again behind the rack-like row and is tiltedtowards the rear upon the return travel.

If now, the return travel is interrupted for any reason, for instancebecause a cartridge has been fired with insufficient recoil or the userhas been interfered with upon the cocking of the inertia bolt 202, sothat its rearward motion is interrupted already in front of the releaseposition, the inertia bolt 202 can then no longer move forward rapidly.This is only possible when the return movement has been completed bymeans of the cocking grip 216.

Thus, an undesired firing is prevented which could possibly take place,for instance, upon the release of the cocking grip 216, since in theposition of the inertia bolt 202 reached at that time (in front of therelease position), the trigger lever 404 can still not engage in thetrigger sear 230 and hold the inertia bolt 202 fast.

The stopping of the inertia bolt 202 in a position in front of therelease position is advisable in the case of many weapons, for instancemost machine pistols or machine guns, but in the case of the weapondescribed it is furthermore of fundamental importance, since in thisweapon the firing of the cartridge 502 does not take place only when ithas been fully introduced into the cartridge chamber 108, but ratheralready a short, precisely determined period of time prior to this whencartridge 502 and inertia bolt 202 are in full movement, in which case,in known manner, the kinetic energy then applied serves in order to takeup a part of the recoil which is produced by the shooting of cartridge502.

Since, however, as mentioned at the start, the cartridge 502 cannot beintroduced fully into the cartridge chamber 108, but protrudes by aconsiderable amount (axial length of the belt member 508) our of thechamber 108 when it is fired, the exact position of the inertia bolt 202and its narrowly tolerated speed in each case at the moment of firingbecome highly critical values. The ratchet mechanism 142, 226 describedsees to it that the speed of the inertia bolt 202 upon the firing of thecartridge 502 is definitely within the permissible tolerance.

Thus, the barrier is developed as a ratchet barrier (142, 226) with aseries of obliquely toothed ratchet teeth (226) which are disposed alongthe inertia bolt (202) or the housing (102), and at least one ratchetpawl (142) which can be brought into engagement with the ratchet teeth(226) and, upon forward travel of the inertia bolt (202), enters into ablocking engagement with the ratchet teeth (226) but can bedisconnected, upon travel past a nose which is arranged at a place whichcorresponds to the minimum cocking position. Further, the ratchet pawl(142) is positively movable by a spring into a position in which itextends transverse to the path of movement of the inertia bolt (202).Since the ratchet teeth (226) are seated on a rack-like arrangementextending above the inertia bolt (202) or housing (102) bearing them,the start and end of this arrangement, upon backward or forward travel,moves beyond the ratchet pawl (142) and thus in each case it is possiblefor the ratchet pawl to erect erect itself.

The Feeder Group 300

The feeder group 300 consists of the actual feeder device, its control,and the belt entrance; the control, on its part, consists of thehousing-side control elements and the control elements arranged in afeeder cover 318.

The housing-side control elements consist of a cam lever 302 and adouble-armed shift lever 310, both of which are mounted for swingingaround a vertical axis in the housing 102.

The cam lever 302 is formed of a downwardly open U-shaped bar the upwardfacing bottom of which is perforated in order to lighten its weight andto form dirt-collection spaces. The U-shaped bar is, as a whole,slightly S-shaped as seen from above. Its downward-directed cavity formsa curved cam 304 lying in a horizontal plane, in which the cam leverdriver 222 which sits centrally, on top and behind on the bolt head 224can slide practically free of play.

The cam lever 302 is swingably mounted on its front side (top side ofits S-shape) on a mounting pin 306 which is arranged firmly, centrallyand vertically in the bridge 144 and protrudes upward from it.

Upon the linear forward and rearward movement of the inertia bolt 202and thus of the cam lever driver 222, the latter moves along the cam 304and thus causes the cam lever 302 to effect a swinging movement thecourse of which is controlled by the curvature of the cam 304.

Shortly behind the center of its length the cam lever 302 has a camlever recess 320 which is open toward the right (toward the righthousing rib 122), which recess extends into the bottom and the rightside wall of the cam lever, but in no way impairs the action of the cam304.

Into this cam lever recess 320 there extends a lock lever (not shown)which is coupled with a spring-actuated feeler finger (not shown) whichis held down by the closed feeder cover 318.

Normally, this lock lever is out of engagement with the cam lever recess320 and thus does not exert any action.

However, if the feeder cover 318 is opened, for instance to insert acartridge belt 500 or to eliminate a jam, then the feeler finger canmove out under spring action and carry the lock lever along with it,which then engages into the cam lever recess 320 and rests on the edgethereof.

If the user now by mistake permits the inertia bolt 202 to strike, thenthis is taken up by the running of the cam lever driver 222 against thelock lever, so that the inertia bolt 202 cannot reach and injure thehand of the aiming or loading user which may be located just at thistime in the region directly behind the cartridge chamber 108. Thevibration upon this impact is so great that it is noted by the user whothen need merely pull the cocking grip 216 back. Due to the stronglybeveled rear edges of the ratchet teeth 226, the inertia bolt 202 can bemoved backward, although the ratchet pawl 142 is tilted forward.

Directly behind the cam lever recess 320, the cam lever 302 has a sidearm 308 which protrudes substantially at a right angle to the left andthe free end of which bears a downward directed pin which fits andengages into a slot 312 in the rear end of the double-armed shift lever310.

This shift lever 310 is at the height of the cam lever 302 between thelatter and the left housing wall 126 and extends approximately in thelengthwise direction of the housing 102.

The double-armed shift lever 310 is formed of two arms of equal lengthwhich form with each other a very obtuse angle of about 165°.

In its center, the double-armed shift lever 310 is arranged swingably ona vertical mounting pin 322 which is fastened firmly, and protrudingvertically upward, on the left housing rib 124.

On the front, free end of the double-armed shift lever 310 there isarranged a shift lever pin 316 which protrudes upward from the top ofthe shift lever 310. This shift lever pin 316 is located slightly behindthe bridge 144.

The housing cover 112 covers all housing-side control elements (camlever 312, shift lever 310) from above in dust-tight manner; only thefront end of the shift lever 312 together with the shift lever pin 316protrudes forward beyond the front edge of the housing cover 112.

In front of the housing cover 112, a feeder cover 318 is arranged on thehousing 102 and fastened swingably around a horizontal transverse axisby means of a hinge arrangement which is developed on the top of thesteel block 104. The feeder cover 318 is shown in FIG. 1, its contourmerely indicated in dashed line in FIG. 2, and shown diagrammatically inFIG. 3. In all three figures the feeder cover 318 is in its closedcondition in which it is held by a releasable barrier.

The feeder cover 318 is wider by practically an entire cartridgediameter than the housing; it extends rearward to beyond the front edgeof the housing cover 112 and thus screen off in the manner of a roof thecorresponding entrance opening 116, 118 in the housing 102 from downwardfalling dirt (mud, sand, earth).

Furthermore, the feeder cover 318 covers the slot between the bridge 144and the front edge of the housing cover 112.

The feeder cover 318 is developed as a downwardly open shallowcontainer. In the part of the feeder cover 318 which lies in the closedposition thereof above the bridge 144, there are fastened two verticalmounting pins 322, 324, the axes of which lie at equal distance from thelongitudinal center line 114 in a common plane perpendicular thereto.

On the left mounting pin 324 there swingably mounted a substantiallystraight first control lever 326 which, in the position of the inertiabolt 202 shown in FIG. 2 (release position), extends forward and outwardfrom the mounting pin 324 by an angle of about 15°.

The first control lever 326 is extended rearward and terminates in arear receiving jaw 336 which is in releasable and force-transmittingengagement with the shift lever pin 316.

Also at its front end, this first control lever 326 has a receiving jaw338 which is in releasable force-transmitting engagement with a firstslide pin 346.

The first control lever 326 also has a control-lever arm 330 whichprotrudes substantially horizontally and at a right angle from theregion of the left mounting pin 324, which arm extends to approximatelyover the longitudinal center line 114 and, on its free end, bears anengagement pin 334 which extends vertically downward.

On the right mounting pin 322, there is swingably mounted asubstantially straight second control lever 328 which, in the positionof the inertia bolt 202 shown in FIG. 2 (release position), extendsforward and outward by an angle of about 15° from the mounting pin 324,namely symmetrically to the first control lever 326.

At its front end, this second control lever 328 has a receiving jaw 338which is in releasable force-transmitting engagement with a second slidepin 348.

The second control lever 328 is a lever, bent at a right angle, thevertex of the angle lying within the region of the right mounting pin322.

The angularly bent part of the second control lever 328 forms acontrol-lever arm 330 which extends to approximately above thelongitudinal center line 114 and at its free end has a slot 332 whichreceives the engagement pin 334 with a slide fit and extendssubstantially transversely to the path of movement thereof upon theswinging of the first control lever 326.

The engagement pin 334 and the slot 332 thus form a substantiallyplay-free positive coupling which sees to it that the second controllever 328 follows exactly in opposite direction the movement of thefirst control lever 326 upon the swinging movement thereof: If, forinstance, the rear part of the cam lever 302 swings in closure directionin the top view of FIG. 2, then the two front receiving jaws 338 of thetwo control levers 326, 328 move towards each other with the same speed.

The two slide pins 346, 348 (FIG. 3) are preferably developed asrotatably mounted rollers in order to reduce the friction upon theengagement in the receiving jaws 338.

The feeder cover 318, however, not only assumes a part of the control,as described, but also the essential part of the actual feeder device.

The latter has a first slide 342 and a second slide 344 (FIG. 4), bothof which, displaceable horizontally and transversely to the longitudinalcenter line 114, are received in a slide guide 340 which is contained inthe feeder cover 318.

The first slide 342 bears, protruding upward, the first slide pin 346,the second slide 344 (FIG. 4) also bears the second slide pin 348. Thetwo slide pins and their movement paths are both on a common planeperpendicular to the longitudinal center line 114.

This slide guide 340 is so developed in its cross section transverse tothe direction of the slide movements, and can be taken apart to such anextent that the two slides 342, 344 can be taken out and inserted againin direction opposite their original direction of movement.

As a result of the symmetrical drive by the two control levers 326, 328,the two slides 342, 344 also operate in reverse alignment, but thenconvey the cartridge belt 500 in opposite direction into the weapon, andtherefore not through the left entrance opening 118 as shown in FIG. 2but through the right entrance opening 116.

The entrance opening 116 or 118 not used at the time is, as can be notedfrom FIG. 3, closed by a sheet-metal plate 350 or other covering inorder to prevent dirt from entering into the weapon.

The further elements of the feeder device are described with referenceto FIGS. 4 to 8 and, for the sake of clarity, are provided withreference numerals only in those figures.

The first slide 342 has, protruding downwards on its right end, a fixedstop 356 and, on its left end, an outer pawl 352 and, approximately inthe center, an inner pawl 354.

The second slide 344 has, protruding downward, at its right end a fixedsupport 360 and at its left end a swing pawl 358.

Each of the pawls 352, 354, and 358 are developed as downward-protrudingfingers which, on their upper end, can be swung against spring forceupward and towards the entrance opening 116 which is closed by thesheet-metal plate 350, in each case around an axis which is parallel tothe longitudinal center line 114.

The cartridge belt 500 enters the weapon through the other entranceopening 118.

The lower edges of the pawls 352, 354, and 358 are so developed that,when they protrude downward and are moved in direction of introductionof the cartridge belt 500, they engage behind the frontmost and possiblythe second cartridge 502, 504 respectively and convey them.

If the pawls 352, 354, and 358, however, are moved, opposite thedirection of introduction, against a cartridge 504, they are then swungaway by the cartridge which is encountered so that they can pass belowthem.

When the two slides 342, 344 are present between the two relativepositions of FIGS. 3 and 4, only the outer pawl 352 then comes intoblocking engagement with the second slide 344 so that it then cannot beswung away but moves in the direction opposite the direction ofintroduction of the cartridge belt 500 against the second cartridge 504and pushes the latter (and thus the entire cartridge belt 500) backslightly without swinging away.

On the housing 102, below the entrance opening 118 used, the outer endof a blocking lever 362 pointing into said opening is swingably mountedaround an axis parallel to the longitudinal center line 114; it islifted by spring action up into the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 andcan be pressed down by the cartridge 504 traveling over it into theposition shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

The manner of operation of the elements borne by the two slides 344, 346and of the blocking lever 362 will be briefly described below withreference to the sequence of movements shown in FIGS. 4 to 8

FIG. 4 shows the position of the cartridge belt 500 and of the twoslides 342 344, when the weapon, after a shot has been fired, is cockedand ready to shoot, and the inertia bolt 202 is accordingly in itsrelease position.

The blocking lever 362 is moved up and supports the first cartridge 502from the outside, the swing pawl 358 is about to move away over thiscartridge 502 and already grips behind it but has not yet reached itsfully vertical position. The outer pawl 352 has just been swung awayupward by the second cartridge 504 and the inner pawl 354 is in itsfully vertical position.

If the cartridge belt 500, on the other hand, is first to be inserted,then the feeder cover 318 is swung open, all pawls 352, 354, and 358being then in fully vertical position, the frontmost cartridge 502 ofthe cartridge belt 500 is placed behind the vertical, free end of theblocking lever 362 pointing towards the longitudinal center line 114 andis held against it by slight pulling on the cartridge belt 500, and thefeeder cover 318 is again closed.

The position of all parts is then the same as in FIG. 4, with theexception that the swing pawl 358 is in fully vertical position andengages behind the first cartridge 502.

If the inertia bolt 202 now commences its forward movement, then the twoslides 342, 344 commence such a movement that the two slide pins 346,348 move towards each other until they reach the position shown in FIG.5.

The inner pawl 354 has, in the meantime, moved in the direction ofintroduction of the cartridge belt 500 against the first cartridge 502and the swing pawl 358 moves away in the direction opposite to thedirection of introduction.

Upon the further movement, the inner pawl 354 pushes the first cartridge502 up to in front of the cartridge chamber 108 (see FIG. 3), while theswing pawl 358 moves towards the outside over the second cartridge 504.The fixed support 360 is moved up to the first cartridge which is heldfast in a precisely defined position between said fixed support 360, theinner pawl 354, and cartridge rest fingers 366, which will be explainedfurther below. The fully erected outer pawl 253 lies against the side ofthe second cartridge 504 which faces the first cartridge 502.

The distance between the two slide pins 346, 348 has reached itsminimum.

The bolt head 224 has now reached by the impact bottom 208 the bottom ofthe cartridge and pushes the first cartridge 502 forward.

In this connection, the pivot pin 512 on the belt member 508 of thesecond cartridge 504 moves in the slot of the projection 510 on the beltmember 508 of the first cartridge. The two slides 342, 344 reverse theirdirection of movement and begin to move apart with their slide pins 346,348.

In this relative position of the two slides 342, 344, the second slide344, as already explained above, grips over the outer pawl 352 andthereby prevents it from swinging.

The outer pawl 352 thus pushes the second cartridge 504 away, oppositethe direction of introduction of the first cartridge 502, the pivot pin512 of the belt member 508 of the second cartridge 504 being pulled outof the widening in the slot of the facing projection 510.

The second cartridge 504 moves further outward until it comes to restagainst the swing pawl 358 (position in FIG. 7). In this connection, thesecond cartridge has made room for the passing bolt head 224, in thesame way as the inner pawl 354 and the fixed support 360, both of whichare moved back by the first cartridge 502 in order to permit the bolthead 224 to pass. The lateral supporting of the cartridge 502 is now nolonger necessary since the front part of the cartridge is already in thecartridge chamber 108 and the bottom of the cartridge is held on theimpact bottom 208.

When the cartridge 502 is fired, then all elements of the feeder deviceare in the position shown in FIG. 7.

The return travel of the bolt now commences and the sequence ofmovements described above takes place in the reverse direction.

Upon the extraction of the cartridge case shot, the inner pawl 354 andfixed support 360 approach and guide it.

The two slides 342, 344 with their slide pins 346, 348 then move rapidlyapart, the swing pawl 358 bringing the previously second cartridge 504,which is now the first cartridge 502, up into the position shown in FIG.4 where it is gripped from behind by the blocking lever 362.

In this connection, the fixed stop 356 or 350 prevents the cartridge 502from being conveyed too far.

On the outside of the housing 102, below the left entrance opening 118,there is an outwardly and downwardly curved belt guidance platform 376.If the right entrance opening 116 is used for the introduction of thebelt, then, on basis of its symmetrical construction, it can also beremoved, turned around and introduced in the right-hand entrance opening116.

The blocking lever 362 can also be arranged in front of the rightentrance opening 116.

Adjoining the belt guide platform 376 in the housing 102 at the samelevel, there is a horizontal guide table 364 which, behind the cartridgechamber 108, has an opening which is bridged over by a cartridge restingfinger 366 at the same height.

Said finger is swingably mounted on the right below the adjoining edgeof the guide table 364 on an axis parallel to the longitudinal centerline 114 and is pressed upward by a spring, said opening in the guidetable 364 fixing its upper end position.

The cartridge resting finger 366 is extended downward to the rightbeyond the mounting by a guide lever 368 the end of which forms aguide-lever driver 370.

This guide-lever driver 370 is so arranged, in combination with themovement of the inertia bolt 202, that when the frontmost cartridge 502is to be introduced into the cartridge chamber, the bolt 228 (shown indashed line in FIG. 7) comes against the guide-lever driver 370 and inthis connection swings the cartridge resting finger 366 downward (FIG.7) to such an extent that the cartridge 502, despite its protruding edgeand despite the lower flattened projection 514 of the belt member 508,can align itself precisely coaxial to the cartridge chamber 108 and thusto the longitudinal center line.

In order to prevent the cartridge resting finger 366 swinging inuncontrolled manner downward under the action of blows, a clamping lever372 is arranged swingable around an axis parallel to the center line 114below the left-hand edge of said opening in the guide table 364, thelever engaging below the free end of the cartridge resting finger 366and thus holding it fast.

The clamping lever 372 is provided on its lower side with aclamping-lever driver 374 which can be pressed upward by the boltcarrier 228, in the same way as the guide-lever driver 370, in order torelease the guide lever 368 (FIG. 7).

As can be seen, the cartridge resting finger 366 is swung away only whenthe cartridge 502 is just introduced into the cartridge chamber 108 orits cartridge case is extracted from it.

All the elements described above which come into direct contact with thecartridge belt 500 are preferably arranged at least in duplicatealongside each other in longitudinal direction of the weapon in order tomake certain that the cartridges 502, 504, 506 are always aligned andremain parallel to the longitudinal center line 114 during the entireoperation of the feeder.

On both sides of the entrance opening 118 used for the introduction ofthe belt, there is located, as shown in FIG. 2, a cartridge belt feedroller 378 mounted for rotation around a vertical axis, the diameter ofwhich roller corresponds approximately to that of a cartridge 502, 504,506. In this way, a cleaner introduction of the belt is assured.

These cartridge belt guide rollers 378 can also be arranged on the otherentrance opening 116.

The Trigger Device Group 400

The trigger device group has the actual trigger device 402, which isarranged in a housing-like box which is attached to the rear of the endcovering 110 of the housing 102 and is seated between the two handles146, 148.

On both sides of the box, in ergonomic association with the handles 146,148, there is a thumb plate 406 which serves as trigger and is connectedwith the trigger lever 404 in such a manner that upon depression of oneor both of the thumb plates 406, the free end of the trigger lever 404lifts up, thereby releasing the trigger sears 230 and thus permittingthe inertia bolt 202 to move rapidly forward.

Below the thumb plate on one or each sidewall of the box, there is asafety and fire-selection lever which is arranged, fixed for rotation,on a shaft 408 (FIG. 10).

The safety and fire-selection lever has, as well as the shaft 408, threepositions of rotation, namely S (safety), E (individual fire) and D(continuous fire). The position shown in FIG. 10 is the position S(safety).

The construction of the associated safety and fire-selection device istraditional and is not shown here; in the turned position S, the thumbplates 406 and the trigger lever 404 are locked; in the other positionsof rotation they are released; furthermore, in the position of rotationE (individual fire), after a single swinging of the trigger lever 404,the connection between it and the thumb plate 406 is interrupted so thatthe trigger lever 404 can, after the release of a shot, again assume itstrigger-sear holding position, even if the thumb plates 406 remaindepressed; in the turned position D (continuous fire), thumb plates 406and trigger lever 404 are continuously connected for movement together.

In addition to the known safety device described, the shaft 408,however, also has a non-circular control section, shown in FIG. 10,which is surrounded by the forked end of the one arm (support arm) 418of a safety angle lever 424.

In the safety position S shown, the forked supporting arm 418 is pressedwith its rear end edge against a stop 420. In the individual-fire andcontinuous-fire positions E and D, on the other hand, the support arm418 is moved away from the stop 420 by the non-circular control sectionof the shaft 408.

The safety angle lever 424 is mounted for swinging in the region of itsvertex and has, as second arm, a catch hook 412 which, in the safetyposition S, extends forward over the catch projection 232 of the inertiabolt 202 and grips around the latter.

On the safety angle lever, there is furthermore seated a projection 410which has a flattening which rests flat against a pressure plate 422 inthe safety position S shown, the pressure plate, in its turn, beingswingably mounted and urged by a spring against the projection 410.

As shown in FIG. 10, the catch projection 232 and the free end of thecatch hook 412 have a complementary development so that they can engagefirmly behind each other and hook to each other when the inertia bolt202, despite the selection of the safety position S, starts to moveforward, for instance as a result of a break of the trigger lever 404.

In contrast to the turned position S, in positions E and D of the shaft408 the safety angle lever 424 is so swung that the hook-shaped curvedfree end of the catch hook 412 is lifted out of the path of movement ofthe catch projection 232 and does not prevent the free movement of theinertia bolt 202.

To be sure, if the support arm 418 breaks, so that the safety anglelever no longer responds to the turned position of the shaft 408, thenthe pressure plate 422 brings the projection 410, and thus the catchhook 412, into the safety position S shown.

As a result of the shape of the hook arrangement, upon the engagementthereof the catch hook 412 is held fast and the shaft 408 thus blocked,so that it is not possible to disengage the safety of the weapon andthus unintentionally to fire at the same time.

The above-described trigger device proper releases the inertia bolt 202but not the actual firing process. The latter is released by the firingdevice shown schematically in FIG. 9, namely in association with theprecise position of the inertia bolt 202; it has been pointed out abovethat, in the case of the weapon of the invention, the maintaining of aprecisely defined firing time within very close tolerances isparticularly important.

As already explained when describing housing group 100, a cam 138 forthe firing pin case 416 extends along the path of movement of the bolthead 224 on the right housing rib 122 and a cam 140 for the firing pin414 extends on the left housing rib 124.

The firing pin case 416 has a bar-shaped front part and a piston-shapedrear part which is received, movable back and forth, in the axial hole212 in the bolt head 224 which hole is provided with a suitablediameter.

The two parts are passed through by a case lengthwise hole 426, having afront, narrow passage for the tip of the firing pin, a main section forthe shank of the firing pin, and a widened end section to receive thethickened end of the firing pin.

On the outer circumference of the widened end section, there is adepression which is developed as guide-lever recess 428.

The firing pin 414, as already indicated, has a firing-pin tip, a narrowfiring-pin shank provided with guide-ring projections and a thickenedfiring-pin end having a rearwardly open blind hole which is formed toreceive an impact spring (not shown).

On the outer side of the thickened end of the firing pin, a transverseprojection with hole through it is formed thereon; the hole of thetransverse projection, which hole is conically widened towards its end,forms a cocking-lever receiver 434.

The rear end of the axial hole 212 in the bolt head 224 is closed by aspring-support bushing 444 on the bottom of which the firing springreceived in the blind hole in the thickened end of the firing pin rests.

The bolt head 224 is slit from above down to its axial hole 212 at theplaces at which the regions of movement of the guide-lever receiver 428and the cocking-lever receiver 434 are located; within the slitarrangement which is thus formed, there lie, one behind the other, threecontrol elements mounted in each case on a corresponding horizontaltransverse axis in the bolt head 224.

The frontmost of these control elements is a guide lever 430 which isformed in the manner of a cradle and with its two protruding endsextends along the cam 138 for the firing pin case 416.

As can be seen, the tilted position of the guide lever 430 is dependenton the shape of the cam 138.

The guide lever 430 has a rectangularly protruding driver finger 432arranged fixed in position, the spherically thickened free end of whichis seated in the guide-lever receiver 428.

The tilted position of the guide lever 430 thus positively determinesthe axial position of the firing pin case 416.

The cam 138 is so developed that the guide lever 430 can assume itsfront position only in that region of the bolt movement in which alsothe firing is to take place. Since, however, the passage for the tip ofthe firing pin 414 which is formed by parts of the axial hole 212 and ofthe case longitudinal hole 426 can only be sufficiently short to permitthe tip of the firing pin to pass through to a length which issufficient for the firing when the firing-pin case 416 is in its frontposition, such a firing is possible at all only in the above-describednarrow region of the bolt movement in which the firing must take place.

The central control element is a cocking lever 436 which, like the guidelever 430, is developed in the form of a cradle and extends along thecam 140, which forces its tilted position around its support.

In contradistinction to the guide lever 430, there is provided on thefront end of the cocking lever 436 terminating on the cam 140 a rollerwhich transmits the forces to be applied upon the cocking of the firingspring.

The rear end of the cocking lever 436 is recessed by a detent depressionwhich faces the axis of rotation of the third control element (whichwill be described further below).

The cocking lever has a cocking finger 440 protruding approximately at aright angle and arranged fixed in position, with a spherical free endwhich is seated in the cocking-finger receiver 434.

In view of the high forces to be transmitted upon the cocking of thefiring spring, the cocking finger 440 and the cocking-finger receiver434 are made larger than the driver finger 432 and driver-fingerreceiver 428.

The third, rearmost control element is a release 442 which is developedas double-armed angle lever the one (rear) arm of which is pressedagainst the cam 140 or a suitable cam and travels on it; the other(front) are has, on its free end, a detent nose 438 which, when thefiring spring is cocked, falls into the detent depression on the rear ofthe cocking lever 436.

As can be seen, the cam 140 can cause a tilting movement of the release442 the detent nose of which is then swung out of the detent depression,whereupon the cocking lever is released and the firing spring canstrike, provided the local development of the cam 140 permits this.

FIG. 9 shows the position which the firing device assumes very shortlybefore the firing and therefore at the front end of the cams 138, 140.

The guide lever 430 has already assumed the tilted position in which ithas placed the firing pin case 416 in its frontmost position. Thecocking lever has already moved away forward over the front bevel of thecam 140, which causes its tilting for the cocking of the firing spring,but does not rest against this cam 140 since it is held in its positionby the release 442 via the engagement between the detent projection andthe detent nose. When this release, which is directly imminent, istilted towards the rear by the cam 140, the cocking lever can then tilt,the firing spring can relax, and the firing pin can move rapidly forwardand fire the cartridge.

Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamentalnovel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodimentsthereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutionsand changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and intheir operation, may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expresslyintended that all combinations of those elements and/or method stepswhich perform substantially the same function in substantially the sameway to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention.It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by thescope of the claims appended hereto.

We claim:
 1. A self-loading grenade launcher comprising:a cartridge beltfeed including a plurality of pawls engaging in said cartridge belt,conveying a cartridge in horizontal direction up to a front of acartridge chamber, said pawls being supported by at least two slidesmovable in opposite directions transverse to a firing direction and saidpawls are arranged in a swingable feeder cover and protrude downwardly,an inertia bolt, traveling from a release position due to a spring forceof at least one closure spring, forward along a path of movement towardsa cartridge chamber, said inertia bolt is adapted, upon forward travel,to push the cartridge conveyed by the pawls out of the cartridge beltinto the cartridge chamber, and, after firing, due to the resultantrecoil, to move back in return travel over the path of movement and cocksaid at least one closure spring, a control connected to said inertiabolt and said at least two slides and converts said forward and saidbackward travel of said inertia bolt into transversely directedalternating movement of said slides, a firing device including a firingpin cocked and held in cocked position by a lock, the lock beingreleased and said cartridge fired before the inertia bolt has completedsaid forward travel, only when the cartridge has been introduced farenough into the cartridge chamber for withstanding the gas pressure ofthe firing, and a housing connected to said cartridge chamber, extendingalong the path of movement and surrounding said chamber at least inpart, said housing having a longitudinal center line including a centeraxis of said cartridge chamber; and wherein between said inertia boltand said housing, there is arranged a barrier comprising at least oneratchet pawl and ratchet teeth permitting said forward travel of saidinertia bolt only after said inertia bolt has been moved backward to aminimum cocking position on a preceding return travel.
 2. The grenadelauncher according to claim 1, wherein said minimum cocking position ispresent substantially at the release position.
 3. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 1, wherein said barrier is developed as a ratchetbarrier with a series of obliquely toothed ratchet teeth disposed alongthe inertia bolt, and at least one ratchet pawl adapted for engagementwith ratchet teeth and, upon forward travel of said inertia bolt,entering into a blocking engagement with said ratchet teeth, which are,upon travel past it, disconnectable by a nose which is disposed at aplace corresponding to a minimum cocking position.
 4. The grenadelauncher according to claim 3, wherein said ratchet pawl is movable by aspring into a position in which said ratchet pawl extends transverse tothe path of movement of said inertia bolt, and said ratchet teeth aredisposed in a rack-like arrangement extending on said inertia bolt, saidarrangement having a start and an end, upon backward or forward travel,moving beyond the ratchet pawl causing an erecting of said ratchet pawl.5. The grenade launcher according to claim 1, wherein said controlconnected to said inertia bolt and said slides further comprises:a camlever pivotally supported on said housing and extending along said pathof movement, and including a cam, a driver, complimentarily disposed onsaid inertia bolt, so that said cam lever upon forward and return travelof said inertia bolt carries out swinging movements directedtransversely; and a rod connecting said cam lever to slides, andconverting the swinging movements into an alternating movements of saidslides.
 6. The grenade launcher according to claim 5, further comprisingpivoted mounting of a cam lever arranged approximately centrally over aninertia bolt, and effected on the front end thereof and over thelongitudinal center of the housing and in the region of a rear edge ofthe feeder cover, and wherein said cam lever is coupled about on a frontside of a rear third of its length with a rear end of a rear arm of adouble-armed shift lever arranged swingably on the housing laterallyalongside the cam lever, and wherein said shift lever has at an end of afront arm a detachable pivoted connecting element, which lies free whensaid feeder cover is open and, with said feeder cover closed, engages ina releasable pivot-connection mating element on a lever control forcontrolling said two slides.
 7. The grenade launcher according to claim6, wherein said lever control has a first control lever and a secondcontrol lever, movable in opposite directions symmetrically to thelongitudinal center line of the housing.
 8. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 7, wherein said first and said second control leversare disposed at the same distance away on both sides of saidlongitudinal center line of the housing in said feeder cover close toits rear edge, and extending by approximately an equal distance forwardand away from said longitudinal center line of the housing and havingtheir front end form a pivotal connection with a first and a secondslide, and one of said control levers being linearly lengthened aroundits support place and ending in a pivotally connected mating element. 9.The grenade launcher according to claim 8, wherein each of said controllevers includes an arm, said arms protruding towards each otherpreferably at about a right angle from their place of support and saidtwo arms are pivotally connected to each other.
 10. A grenade launcheraccording to claim 9, wherein the two arms each have a free end and saidpivotal connection is disposed on one of the free ends, and on the otherfree end a slide curve including a driver developed as an engagementpin, is disposed on said free end of said other arm and said driver isengaged to form a substantially play-free forced control.
 11. A grenadelauncher according claim 10, wherein said pivotal connection between oneof said first and second slide and the first and the second controllever are developed such as to include a fixed pin protruding towardsone of a control lever and a roller disposed on the slide which engagesin a slot on an end of the control lever.
 12. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 11, wherein each of said two slides are guidedmovably back and forth in a transverse guide, wherein the two transverseguides are so developed in agreement with each other such that said twoslides are exchangeable.
 13. A grenade launcher according to claim 12,wherein in said release position of said inertia bolt, both slidesassume an outermost end position in which they are furthest outside fromthe longitudinal center line of the housing, in which connection thefirst slide, which is located on a side of an entering cartridge belt,and has between its outer side and the longitudinal center line of thehousing, an inner pawl which is mounted pivotally and under springaction and is developed such as to engage behind a first cartridge ofsaid cartridge belt in the direction of conveyance of said belt anddisplaces said belt in an opposite direction and swings over a followingcartridge, and said second slide facing away from said entrance of thecartridge belt bearing on its outer side a fixed support and on itsopposite side a swing pawl which is pivotally mounted under springaction, during the inertia-bolt forward travel, said two slides move inopposite directions transverse to said longitudinal center line of thehousing, the inner pawl guides the first cartridge up to in front ofsaid cartridge chamber and said support on the side opposite the innerpawl forms a stop for the cartridge, said inertia bolt in said finalportion of its forward travel pushes the cartridge in front of thecartridge chamber together with the belt member surrounding it out ofthe belt connection and pushes said cartridge into said cartridgechamber, upon opening of the inertia bolt, said inner pawl moves awayover said following cartridge, said swing pawl approaches said cartridgefrom said outer side, and said support moves away towards said outerside from an extracted cartridge case in order not to prevent extractionthereof, and, during the remaining rearward travel of the inertia bolt,the swing pawl conducts the following cartridge up into the positionwhich it assumes as the first cartridge in the release position of theinertia bolt.
 14. A grenade launcher according to claim 13, wherein saidfirst slide has on its inner side a first stop which prevents undesiredfurther sliding of the last cartridge of a cartridge belt.
 15. Thegrenade launcher according to claim 13, wherein on said outer side ofsaid first slide there is arranged an outer pawl mounted pivotally underspring action, said outer pawl, during the last section of forwardtravel of the inertia bolt, being locked in its active position so thatupon movement opposite to the direction of conveyance of the cartridgebelt it does not swing away over the following cartridge, and said firstslide carrying out with said locked outer pawl, one of a rearward andoutward movement in which a following cartridge is moved away indirection opposite the direction of conveyance by the engagement with anouter flank of said outer pawl of said first cartridge which has beenalready removed from the belt, until said following cartridge strikesagainst said inner surface of said swing pawl.
 16. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 15, wherein said second slide, upon the last sectionof the forward travel of the inertia bolt, grips over the outer pawlthereby locking it.
 17. The grenade launcher according to claim 16,further comprising a buffer spring arrangement for delaying the finalphase of the forward travel for avoiding damage to said grenade launcherupon empty firing thereof.
 18. The grenade launcher according to claim17, further comprising two spring guide rods arranged in the housing,each of which passes through a longitudinal hole in the inertia bolt andon each of which one of the closing springs is seated, wherein, forforming said buffer spring arrangement, there is arranged at the frontend of each spring guide rod a buffer spring which rests against thehousing and sits over the greatest part of its length in a receivinghole being passed through by a corresponding spring guide rod.
 19. Thegrenade launcher according to claim 18, wherein said inertia bolt ispassed through by at least one longitudinal channel which isdisplaceably guided with a clearance fit on a longitudinal guide whichis fixedly arranged in position in said housing.
 20. The grenadelauncher according to claim 19, wherein said longitudinal channel isdeveloped as fitted hole and said longitudinal guide as a preferablytubular fitted round rod.
 21. The grenade launcher according to claim20, wherein said housing is formed of a box-profile section on anextruded-profile section, a front side of which is closed by a blockwhich receives the cartridge chamber.
 22. The grenade launcher accordingto claim 21, wherein said box-profile section comprises a lower partwhich is formed from a closed hollow-profile strand on which ahollow-profile strand open on top connected as one piece with it isseated, the closed hollow-profile strand receives the inertia bolt, andthe open hollow-profile strand receives the control and being closedfrom above by a removable housing cover.
 23. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 22, wherein at least a part of the outer and/or innersurface of the box-profile section is provided with a surface treatmentor coating, preferably hard-anodized.
 24. The grenade launcher accordingto claim 23, having a belt conveyance arranged on the entrance openingof the cartridge belt, wherein said belt conveyance has abelt-conveyance platform detachably fastened to said housing and whichsupports said cartridge belt from below.
 25. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 24, wherein said belt conveyance has a covering beingarranged spaced above said belt-conveyance platform and covering andguiding said cartridge belt from above.
 26. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 25, wherein said belt conveyance has, on both sidesof the belt-conveyance platform, a cartridge belt guide roller which isrotatable around a vertical axis.
 27. A grenade launcher according toclaim 26, wherein on both sides of the housing there is an entranceopening for the cartridge belt, and the parts of the belt conveyance arearranged in one of individually, groupwise, and in their entirety at oneof the two entrance openings.
 28. The grenade launcher according toclaim 27, wherein the entrance opening not associated with the beltconveyance is closed by a removable wall, developed as a sheet-metalplate.
 29. The grenade launcher according to claim 28, wherein on bothsides of said housing there is a mount for the detachable fastening ofan ammunition box laterally alongside a corresponding entrance opening.30. The grenade launcher according to claim 29, wherein the covering isarranged on the ammunition box.
 31. The grenade launcher according toclaim 30, wherein the ammunition box has a top cover which is swingablearound a hinge which is arranged on the sidewall of the ammunition boxfacing away from the grenade launcher and that the covering is fastenedon the cover or developed integral with it.
 32. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 31, further comprising a feeder cover which can beopened for the insertion of the cartridge belt, in which connection,with the feeder cover open, the inertia bolt is in its release position,characterized by the fact that a barrier is provided which, when thefeeder cover is open, prevents the striking of the inertia bolt orintercepts the striking inertia bolt before it comes into the region ofthe cartridge belt feed device.
 33. The grenade launcher according toclaim 32, wherein the barrier has a feeler which, with the feeder coverclosed, assumes a position of rest and, upon the opening of the feedercover, moves into a barrier position, and that the feeler is connectedwith a lock which, upon the movement of the feeler into the releaseposition, moves into the path of movement of the inertia bolt.
 34. Thegrenade launcher according to claim 33, wherein the feeler is developedas feeler finger which is urged by a spring into its blocking positionand is connected for transmission of movement with a locking lever. 35.The grenade launcher according to claim 34, wherein the inertia boltbears a cam lever driver which engages in a cam lever which is mountedswingably on the housing, and wherein the locking lever is movable intothe path of movement of the cam lever driver.
 36. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 35, wherein the cam lever has a recess which supportsthe locking lever in a locking position.
 37. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 36, wherein the firing pin is seated in a firing-pincase arranged in the inertia bolt, which case is movable in thedirection of the longitudinal center between a front position in whichit permits the unimpeded forward movement of the firing pin for thefiring of a cartridge and a rear position, in which it prevents thefiring pin from carrying out this forward movement.
 38. The grenadelauncher according to claim 37, wherein said firing-pin case has arearward open blind hole receiving said firing pin and a bottom of whichhas a hole for the passage of the tip of the firing pin.
 39. The grenadelauncher according to claim 37, wherein the firing pin case is connectedvia a guide lever with a cam which is fastened to the housing and whichmoves the firing-pin case into the front position upon the forwardmovement of the inertia bolt only shortly in front of the positionthereof in which the firing of the cartridge takes place.
 40. A grenadelauncher according to claim 39, wherein the firing device has a partarranged between the firing pin and the firing spring which is acted onby the latter, which part, in the absence of loading by the firingspring, controls the cam by covering the guide lever so that themovement of the firing-pin case is absent in the front position.
 41. Agrenade launcher according to claim 40, having an actuating device whichhas a handle for drawing the inertia bolt back into its release positionwhich is connected with it for the transmission of pulling force,wherein the handle at the rear end of the housing can be pulled awaytherefrom in a direction parallel to the longitudinal center line and,with the inertia bolt in the release position, is movable again towardsthe end of the housing.
 42. A grenade launcher according to claim 41,wherein the handle has a releasable barrier by means of which it can befixed in its position tight at the end of the housing.
 43. A grenadelauncher according to claim 41, wherein said each closure spring isdeveloped as a coil-compression spring extending parallel to thelongitudinal center and being passed through by a spring guide rod, arear end of said each closure spring rests on the rear end of thehousing and the front end of the or each closure spring rests on theinertia bolt, said each spring guide rod extending beyond the inertiabolt rearward to the rear end of the housing and passing through thelatter, at said rear end of said each spring guide rod extending in itsposition of rest up to the front end of the housing a driver arrangementbeing developed for engagement into the inertia bolt, and said handlebeing arranged on the rear end of the or each spring guide rod.
 44. Thegrenade launcher according to claim 41, wherein the handle has alengthwise operating grip extending transverse to its direction ofmovement, and within the operating grip, there is arranged a releaselever which can be spread apart from it by a spring and can be depressedby the hand of the operator in order to release the barrier.
 45. Thegrenade launcher according to claim 44, further comprising a triggerdevice which has a trigger formed as thumb plate which can be fastenedpreferably by a safety device, which trigger is connected with arelease-lever arrangement which engages in releasable holding manner ina sear arrangement of the inertia bolt present in its release position,characterized by the fact that an additional safety device beingprovided which holds the inertia bolt directly in its release positionor, in case of unintended loosening of the engagement of the releaselever arrangement, prevents it from striking.
 46. The grenade launcheraccording to claim 45, wherein the additional safety device has acatch-hook arrangement which grips behind a projection on the inertiabolt.
 47. The grenade launcher according to claim 46, wherein saidcatch-hook arrangement of the safety device is associated shaft and uponthe activating of deactivating thereof can be brought into and out ofcatch position in which it engages behind the projection on the inertiabolt.
 48. The grenade launcher according to claim 47, wherein saidcatch-hook arrangement is fixed in its catch position by the projectionon the inertia bolt so that the safety device can only be deactivatedwhen the inertia bolt has been pulled back out of the catch position.49. The grenade launcher according to 13, wherein, at least one of saidpawls, said support, and/or said stop is formed of at least andpreferably two substantially identical structural or functional partslying one behind the other parallel to the longitudinal center line ofthe housing.
 50. The grenade launcher according to claim 49, whereinbelow a cartridge belt being fed, on said side thereof facing away fromsaid feeder cover, there is arranged a blocking lever which is swingableunder spring action against the cartridge belt, said lever moving awaydownward from the cartridge belt upon its movement in the direction ofconveyance and upon its return movement being adapted for supportingengagement into a cartridge, and upon said inertia bolt being in releaseposition, said inertia bolt rests against said frontmost cartridge fromthe outside and thus forms an application for insertion of saidcartridge belt.
 51. The grenade launcher according to claim 13, furthercomprising a guide table extending parallel to said feeder cover andalong said cartridge belt conveyor path is arranged below said cartridgechamber, a cartridge rest disposed behind said cartridge chamber beingdeveloped on the central section of said guide table, and said cartridgerest being adapted, at least upon the portion of the forward travel ofthe inertia bolt which is necessary for introducing a cartridge into thecartridge chamber, to move away downwards so that said front side ofsaid inertia bolt together with radially protruding developments on thecartridge can travel unimpeded over said guide table.
 52. The grenadelauncher according to claim 51, wherein said cartridge rest is developedswingably on one of its side edges around an axis parallel to saidlongitudinal center line and being extended by a guide lever whichextends beyond it and is preferably bent downward, the free end of whichlever bears a driver which can be brought into engagement with a matingdevelopment on said inertia bolt in order to control the downwardswinging of said cartridge rest.
 53. The grenade launcher according toclaim 52, wherein, below said side edge of said cartridge rest facingaway from the axis, there is arranged a swingable clamping lever whichlocks said position, it bearing a driver which can be brought intoengagement with a mating development on the inertia bolt in order torelease the lock.
 54. A grenade launcher according to claim 53, whereinthe cartridge rest includes a cartridge-rest finger which extendstransverse to a vertical plane intersecting the longitudinal center lineof the housing.
 55. The grenade launcher according to claim 54, whereinat least one cartridge-rest finger is disposed in the direction of thelongitudinal center line of the housing.